Moving stairway



Aug. 14, 1962 A. FABULA MOVING STAIRWAY Filed April 22, 1960 QADFEWFAEUL/Q INVENTDR ATTORNEY 3,049,213 Patented Aug. 14, 1962 3,049,213MOVING STAHRWAY Andrew Fabula, Hohokus, NJ, assignor to this ElevatorCompany, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jerse y Filed Apr. 22,1960, Sea. N 23,932

4 Claims. (Cl. 198-16) This invention relates to moving stairs and moreparticularly to the balustrading and assembly of the handrail structurefor use with such stairs.

Moving stairs consist of individual steps usually interconnected in anendless loop by drive chains to which each side of the individual stepsare fastened, the chains being powered by driving sprockets locatedwithin the structural truss which supports the assembly. Associated withthe moving stairs are balustrades, one on each side of the stairs andextending from a lower to an upper landing. Atop each balustrade amoving handrail is guided in synchronism with the moving steps. Thesteps are in plat form or fiat formation as they leave and enter therespective landings, and they assume their step formation in theintermediate inclined portion. Thus, the stairway takes the form of alower and an upper landing section between which there is the inclinedsection where the steps are in step formation.

Each balustrade usually includes a skirt panel arranged vertically andclosely adjacent to the sides of the steps. Above the skirt panel thereis an interior panel which extends upwardly, sometimes at an angle, tothe deck or top portion of the balustrade. Surmounting this deck thereare fixtures supporting a guide track on which the C- shaped, canvasreinforced, rubber handrail rides. The exterior surface of the stairwayis usually finished to resemble the adjacent wall surfaces; such as,painted plaster on a Wire lath base.

The lower and upper landing sections of each balustrade are usually madesemicircular in shape. At each of these semicircular sections the spacebetween the exterior wall of the stairway and the interior panel of thebalustrade contains a rubber covered sheave which engages the insidesurface of the C-shaped handrail. Generally, at the lower landing thissheave is an idler while the one at the upper landing is driven insynchronism with the driving sprockets that move the steps such that thehandrail and steps move at the same uniform speed.

Although this type of stairway construction has generally been followedin the past, it seems desirable, and particularly so for buildings ofmore modernistic decor, to arrange the stairway such that the exteriorplaster on wire lath section terminates at the height of the skirtpanel; leaving only a skeleton balustrade framework to support the deckportion and the handrail guide track at a height convenient forstabilizing the passengers. The position formerly occupied by theinterior panel may now be occupied by a side panel or panels oftransparent material, which may suitably be of tempered glass or atransparent plastic material. This change makes mandatory arearrangement of the return path of the handrail as well as the idlersheave and driving sheavewhich is left in their customary position wouldbe visible at the upper and lower landing portions.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a re-arrangedhandrail driving and guiding arrangement for moving stairs in which theside panel section of the balustrade may be transparent and in which thedriving and idler sheaves as well as the return run of the handrail areconcealed from view.

In carrying out the invention there is provided a moving stairway havingan upper and a lower landing section and an intervening inclinedportion, the stairway comprising an endless series of steps supported ona structural truss and positioned for movement between the landings, thesteps being flanked by a balustrade terminating in a semicircular newelsection at each of the landings, the balustrade having a handrail guideportion, and a side panel section intermediate the steps and thehandrail guide portion, an endless moving handrail supported on thehandrail guide portion, and mechanism for driving the series of stepsand the handrail in synchronism with each other, in which the side panelsection is transparent.

A better understanding of the invention may be derived from thefollowing description when considered in conjunction with the drawingsin which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic representation in side elevation, with partsbroken away and parts in section, of a moving stairway embodying theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged View in section taken along the line 22 ofFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view in section taken along the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view in section taken along the line 44 ofFIGURE'l; and

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic representation in side elevation of the upperportion of the moving stairway of FIG- URE 1, modified as shown.

Referring first to FIGURES 1 through 4, the moving stairway includes astructural truss 17 supporting an endless series of steps 10 adapted forcarrying passengers between balustrades 12, only one being shown, from alower landing 13 to an upper landing 14. A moving handrail 15 in theform of a continuous loop is provided at each side of the stairs for theconvenience of passengers. Each handrail is driven in synchronism withthe moving steps, and on its exposed run is guided and supported at aconvenient height above the stairs by the balustrade.

The steps 10 are driven by means of two running gear chains (not shown)which, at the upper end of the stairway, engage driving sprockets 18.Driving sprockets 18 are mounted on main drive shaft 19 which in turn isdriven by a reversible driving mechanism (not shown). The steps emergein platform formation from underneath the landing at their entrance end,transfer to step formation as they enter the inclined portion of thestairway and transfer back to platform formation as they leave theincline to disappear underneath the landing at their exit end.

Each balustrade terminates at the upper and lower landings in avertically disposed semicircular section called a newel. The balustradeincludes a skirt panel 21 mounted vertically, closely adjacent the sidesof steps 10 and extending from the newel at the lower landing to that atthe upper landing. Above skirt panel 21 and extending into the lower andupper newel sections is mounted a side panel 23. This panel extendsupwardly to the deck portion 24 of the balustrade, which deck portionextends around both newel sections and is supported by balustradebrackets 26 mounted on truss 17 at spaced points along the stairway. Ahandrail guide track 28, upon which the exposed portion of handrail 15rides, is supported on top of deck portion 24 by the upper parts ofinterior and exterior moldings 30 and 3-1 to form the periphery of thebalustrade. Molding 30 completely encircles the side panels and itslower or inside portion is extended to cover and form a skirt for thetop edge of side panel 23 and the junction of this panel and skirt panel21 adjacent the moving stairs. The exterior of the stairway is coveredby a plastered or other suitable surface to the height of skirt panel21.

A rubber covered sheave 33 is mounted on stub shaft 34 in the inclinedportion of truss 17 and is driven from main drive shaft 19 by means ofsprocket chain 35 which engages sprocket wheels 36 and 37. A deflectorsprocket 39, adjustably mounted on truss 17 provides the desired tensionin the sprocket chain. Tensioning rollers 43 are arranged along arcuatesupports 41 and 50 to guide and tension the C-shaped canvas reinforcedrubber handrail in its passage from the upper newel section to engage,on its inner surface, the periphery of drive sheave 33. The arcuatesupport 41 is made adjustable by take up bolt 46 and its bracket 47. Asteel tape 4!} is embedded within the flat section of the handrail as anendless loop and reduces any tendency of the handrail to elongate bystretching. This plus the take up arrangement 46, 47 provides plently ofmargin for adjusting the tension in the handrail. Short arcuate guides52 contact the inside of the handrail on each side of sheave 33 to holdthe rail on rollers 43 and insure proper alignment with the rim ofsheave 33.

To increase the driving effect of sheave 33, a flat belt 56 is loopedaround idler sheaves 62 and 63 and compresses the handrail 15 againstthe rim of the sheave. The degree of this compression is a function ofthe elasticity of tensioning spring 54.

The total driving force exterted on handrail 15 by sheave 33 is afunction of the angle of wrap between the rail and sheave, the tensionin the rail, as induced by rollers 43 and tensioning bolt 46, as well asthe added effect imparted by belt 56 in forcing the inside of the railagainst the rim of the sheave.

At the lower landing a small arcuate roller guide 65 engages the insidesurface of handrail 15, maintaining it below transparent side panel 23and directing it properly for its journey around the periphery of thesemicircular newel section.

The greatest resistance to passage of the handrail 15 occurs around theperiphery of the lower and upper semicircular newels. For this reason itmay be desirable to provide antifriction means for easing the passageover these sections. Preferably, small cylindrical rollers 76,proportioned to fit inside the C-shaped handrail, are rotatably mounted(FIGURES 2 and 3) on spindles 77 which in turn are supported on asemicircular roller cage 78. These rollers in their supporting cage formthe periphery of the newel section and guide and support the handrail.The rollers may be either metallic or a plastic, such as nylon.

Alternatively, it may be satisfactory and desirable to continue theY-shaped supporting track of guide 28 (FIG- URE 4), which supports thehandrail on its inclined run, to'support it in encircling the newelportions. In such event, the handrail in emerging from behind the skirtpanel 21 would be guided onto the Y-shaped track section instead of ontothe'cylindrical rollers 76. If such is the case, the top surfaces of theoutwardly extending flanges 71 of the guide 28 (which surfaces contactand support the inside surface of the rail) may be coated withself-lubricating, low-frictional material such as, for example,polytetrafluoroethylene commonly called Teflon or any other suitablematerial having the above described characteristics and suitable wearingqualities. lt'may be noted that the aforementioned Y configuration ofthe guide track 28 obviates engagement between the inside surface of thehandrail at its midse'ction and the Teflon coated surfaces of flanges71. This construction prevents a coating of Teflon from adhering to theinside surface of the handrail at its midsection and interfering withthe traction drive of the handrail by its driving sheave 33.

In some installations, it may not be desirable to provide transparentside panels at the upper landing portions of the balustrade's, forexample, where the upper landing portions of the balustrades areadjacent wall surfaces of the building. In such an installation, theconstruction shown in FIGURE 5 may be utilized for the upper portion ofthe stairway, while the remainder of the staiiway is constructed asshown in FIGURES l to 4, as previously described. In this arrangement,the newel sections of the balustrades at the upper landing areconstructed in the conventional manner with non-transparent interiorpanels St to conceal the handrail driving sheave 33 and tensioningdevice from View. The return run of the handrail 15 is guided below thelevel of the transparent side panel section by arcuate roller guide 83.Either the cylindrical rollers '76 or the plastic coated'guide 28 may beused around the lower newel section to support and guide the handrail.

As changes can be made in the above described construction and manyapparently different embodiments of this invention can be made withoutdeparting from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown on the accompanying drawingsbe interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

I. A moving stairway for carrying passengers from one landing toanother, said stairway having an upper and a lower landing section andan intervening inclined portion supported on a structural truss, saidstairway comprising; an endless series of step positioned on said trussfor movement between said landings; a vertically disposed balustradepositioned along a side edge of said steps, said balustrade terminatingin a semicircular newel section at each of said landings and consistingof a handrail guide portion forming its periphery, a skirt panel sectionmounted closely adjacent the side edge of said steps and extending atsubstantially step height from one of said semicircular newel sectionsto the other, and a side panel section of transparent materialintermediate said skirt panel section and said handrail guide portion;an endless moving handrail supported on said guide portion for itsexposed run; mechanism for driving said steps and handrail insynchronism, said mechanism including a handrail drive sheave rotablymounted in the inclined.

portion of said truss beneath the lowermost edge of said transparentside panel section in tractional engagement with the inner surface ofsaid handrail, handrail tensioning devices mounted on said truss in saidinclined portion, one on each side of said drive sheave in position toengage the outer surface of said handrail and support it in contact withthe drive sheave immediately before and after its engagement with saiddrive sheave, the tensioning means on one side being movable foreffecting an adjustment of the tension in the handrail and the angle ofwrap between the handrail and its drive sheave; and mechanism mounted onsaid truss in engagement with the inner surface of said handrail on itsreturn run for maintaining the return run of said handrail at a levelbeneath the lowermost edge of said transparent side panel section.

2 A moving stairway for carrying passengers from one landing to another,said stairway having an upper and a lower landing section and anintervening inclined por tion supported on a structural truss, saidstairway comprising; an endless series of steps positioned on said trussfor movement between said landing; a vertically diposed balustr-adepositioned along a side edge of said steps, said balustrade terminatingin a semicircular newel section at each of said landings and consistingof a handrail guide portion forming its periphery and a side panelsection of transparent material intermediate said steps and saidhandrail guide portion; an endless moving handrail supported on saidguide portion for its exposed run; mechanism for driving said steps andhandrail in synchronism, said mechanism including a handrail drivesheave rotat-= ably mounted in the inclined portion of said trussbeneath the lowermost edge of said transparent side panel section intractional engagement with the inner surface of said handrail, mechanismmounted on said truss in engagement with the outer surface of saidhandrail dur-' ing its return run for directing the inner surface ofsaid handrail into tractional engagement with said drive sheave and formaintaining the return run of said handrail at a level beneath thelowermost edge of said transparent side panel section, said meanscomprising two groups each of a plurality of rollers arranged along longarcs of large radius contacting the outer surface of said handrail andsupporting it in a gentle reverse bend with its inner surface in tensionagainst the rim of said drive sheave, said rollers being in contact withsaid handrail substantially until said rail makes and breaks itsengagement with said sheave, and means mounted on said truss andpressing against the outer surface of said handrail for a considerableportion of the span of engagement of said rail and its driving sheavethus compressing said handrail against the rim of said drive sheave forincreasing tractional engagement between said handrail and said sheave.

3. A moving stairway as set forth in claim 8 wherein said meanscompressing said handrail against the rim of said drive sheavecomprises; two idler sheaves one on each side of said drive sheave, withtheir rims above the level of the point of tangency of said drive sheaveat a line drawn between said idler sheaves m unted on said truss, one ofsaid sheaves being mounted on a shaft movable with respect to the shaftof the other idler sheave; a flat belt looped around said sheaves, saidbelt engaging said handrail Where said handrail rides on the rim of saiddrive sheave; and a spring attached at one of its ends to said movableshaft and at the other end to said truss for tensioning said flat belt,thereby compressing said handrail against the rim of said drive sheave.

4. A moving stairway in accordance with claim 3 wherein a plurality ofcylindrical rollers are mounted in a substantially arcuate sectionaround the outer periphery of each semi-circular newel section andslidably support said handrail in encircling each said section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS994,879 Seeberger June 13, 1911 2,660,286 Margles Nov. 24, 19532,929,483 Minejiro Jin Mar. 22, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 601,826 GreatBritain May 13,1948

